Square Enix to open new ‘next-gen’ studio for Wii 2, Xbox 720, and PlayStation 4

Square Enix is planning to open a major new studio in either Montreal or Toronto (yay, Canada!) for the sole purpose of developing games for the next generation of home consoles – including not just the Wii 2, but also the PlayStation 4 and Xbox 720 (all fan names, of course; no one knows what they’ll really be called). The studio will reportedly house over 100 employees, so it’s definitely no small-time operation. The director of Eidos Montreal (a subsidiary of Square Enix), Stéphane D’Astous, said:

The new consoles from Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo will require more attention and more staff. We want to prepare ourselves.

Does Square Enix’s investment in starting up this new studio mean that they’ve seen the Wii 2 (or the PlayStation 4 and Xbox 720, for that matter), and believe it’s worth having a dedicated team for? I think it’s more than likely that that’s the case, as Nintendo will want to start handing out dev kits soon if they want any games to be ready in time for the rumoured 2012 release. They began to give 3DS kits to select developers back in 2008, about two years before the system’s existence was announced to the public on March 23, 2010, and you can still see how small the launch lineup turned out to be. Square Enix would definitely be one of those “select” companies, so if Nintendo is at that stage by now, I’m almost sure that they’d be among the first to know.

Maybe they had gotten their dev kits already some time ago and noticed that they wouldn’t be ready with their game(s) for a launch release? I know this scenario is pretty unlikely to be true, but imagine that they’re stocking up on manpower because they’re lagging behind with the timeframe. Would this mean that the Wii 2 is coming sooner than expected? Anyway, I’ll stop trying to predict the moves of the most unpredictable company ever and continue playing Super Street Fighter 4: 3D Edition. The 3DS rulz.

I don’t think the scenario you proposed is all that far-fetched. Stéphane said that the Wii 2 and co. will require more manpower – if he has access to a dev kit, and knows about a possible launch window for the system, it’s quite possible that Square is doing just that.

Lucky you with your 3DS. I’m having a bit of an issue with a squeaky hinge, and can’t find time to go back to the store and exchange mine. 🙁

Thanks for asking about my trip. To put it short, I had an absolute blast there. Got to see all the famous sights in London and Paris, and I came back with almost 2400 pictures. I might share a few of them on the forums.

Guest

The only issue I personally am having with my 3DS is that it already starts to wear out because of playing Street Fighter too much xD .

Ahh, this is probably the best non-3DS news I’ve heard all month 😀
Not only is Square Enix focusing on developing on the SWcES64 (We all know Sony and Micro aren’t going to make anything anytime soon), but they’re focusing it about an hour away from where I live 😀

If I’m not in Japan by the time I graduate, I know where I’m going to go experience hunting ^.^
(I was REALLY tempted to say grinding there 😛
For those who don’t know, that’s a Final Fantasy reference- Well, RPG in general.)

Guest

Argh, please don’t mention this word (“grinding”), it reminds me of all the countless hours I wasted on various MMORPGs… I should’ve played Monster Hunter Tri for some more hours instead.

The reason for the lackluster launch line-up for the 3DS is Nintendo’s insistence to let 3rd parties lead the way. Unfortunately, the majority of that control was given to Ubisoft and EA, two companies who, no matter how eager they are about technology, don’t trust the portable market enough to put their top-quality material there. Need further proof? Just look at My Garden, a title I believe is cancelled now. They’re still under that persuasion dating back to the Game Boy-era that a portable version of something must be the “gimped, sub-standard experience.”

This is especially sad when considering that Cacpom or High Voltage can, according to hands-on reports, already do things that meet or even surpass the Wii on the 3DS.

Guest

The statement that EA and Ubisoft fail at making good games for Nintendo systems doesn’t need any proof. It’s common sense. There are some good games from them, but the absolute majority is shovelware. I agree with you that it’s sad to compare the quality of their games with Capcom or HV games, and this is also true for the Wii. The only exception on Ubisoft’s side is Red Steel 2 – standing against Okami, Monster Hunter, The Conduit and more. And still, Red Steel 2 isn’t as good as it could be. We gamers should boycott Ubisoft and EA, they’re totally ruining the good name of Nintendo systems as hardcore systems.

Also, what makes me even more sad is that I’m feeling as if Nintendo betrayed us gamers. What’s the reason they didn’t release their own games? They wanted 3rd-party publishers to make some money. But why would they have not to release their own games? Because they’re much better than almost all of the launch games, meaning most 3rd-party games would have less sales. Why? Because the majority of the launch games are bad. And this is the reason why I feel betrayed. Good games like Super Street Fighter 4: 3D Edition wouldn’t suffer if Ninty released an own blockbuster. The only games which would have less sales are the Ubisoft and EA shovelware. So let’s all boycott their crap and buy some more Capcom or HV games! =D